Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW), in co-operation with the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), kicked off the 'Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Work Environment' initiative on Thursday.

The initiative, which is within the framework of activating the consultative status of QFSW at the UN Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc), was launched as a first phase at the Centre for Protection and Social Rehabilitation (Aman), and it will be followed by the rest of the centres under the umbrella of QF for Social Action.

In her speech, QFSW CEO Amal Abdullatif al-Mannai said that she was pleased to launch what she considered one of the most important initiatives for civil society in general, and for women in particular, saying this was done in the framework of activating the consultative status of QFSW to Ecosoc. She said this project is the first approved international framework to measure the compatibility of the regulations of the organisations with the mechanisms of women’s empowerment.

Al-Mannai added that the foundation is counting on the results of this initiative to provide a prototype that can be replicated not only at the level of national institutions but also at the global level. She stressed that international performance reports on the status of women in Qatar and the actions of all relevant state bodies have been a strong incentive to adopt this initiative to complement the gains made for women in general and working women in particular. For her part, ESCWA Centre for Women director, Dr Mehrenaz al-Awadi, said she was delighted that QFSA has adopted this ambitious initiative through Aman Centre.

She added that the initiative will form an accountability framework aimed at building and disseminating a common understanding of the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women within organisations. For his part, Aman Centre executive director, Dr Mansour al-Saadi, said that the initiative contributes to the real empowerment of women through achieving the objectives of Aman Centre, especially awareness and protection, stressing that this initiative has been thoroughly studied by the team working at the Centre.